Chastain, who narrowly missed making the 2024 playoffs, was determined to get back to victory lane after winning twice in each of the past two seasons , even if a season championship was not in play.
Chastain scored his first win of the season and the fifth of his Cup career, holding off playoff driver William Bryon in the final laps by 0.388 seconds to take the checkered flag.
Chastain took the lead on a restart on Lap 248 of 267, passing Martin Truex Jr. on the inside with Byron following closely behind. Chastain’s No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet had just enough speed to keep Byron behind him, despite the Hendrick Motorsports driver’s numerous attempts to get to his back bumper.
Ross Chastain smashes a watermelon after winning the Hollywood Casino 400 NASCAR Cup Series race at Kansas Speedway. Sean Gardner, Getty Images
“This is incredible! To drive into victory lane in the Cup Series, it’s just so challenging. It’s so tough," an excited Chastain said during an NBC Sports interview after the race. "It’s not easy when you’re failing or struggling at something, and you just can’t get to where you want to get to.
"We haven't left, we haven't went away, nobody's slowed us down other than ourselves. And today we were the fastest car."
Truex finished third, followed by playoff driver Ryan Blaney and Ty Gibbs. Byron’s Hendrick teammate and Alex Bowman came home sixth, with Joe Gibbs Racing drivers Christopher Bell in seventh and Denny Hamlin in seventh and eighth, respectively. Chase Elliott rebounded from a last-place start after an engine change Saturday to come home ninth and Zane Smith 10 th .
Bowman, Bell, Hamlin and Elliott are all still in the playoffs. Among other championship contenders, Chastain’s teammate Daniel Suarez finished 13 th , Joey Logano 14 th , Chase Briscoe 24 th , Tyler Reddick 25 th , Kyle Larson 26 th and Austin Cindric 34 th .
While Byron leaves Kansas as the runner-up, he posted a huge points day to vault him to the top of the playoff standings.
Two races remain in the second round with a trip to the calamitous Talladega Superspeedway next weekend followed by an elimination race at Charlotte Motor Speedway on the roval – the part road course, part oval circuit – in two weeks. The top eight drivers in the playoff standings following the race at Charlotte will advance to the third round.
Ross Chastain held off a hard-charging William Byron to win the Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway for his first victory of the season and the fifth of his career. While Chastain did not make the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs this season, Byron did and had the best showing among the 12 drivers in the playoff field. Ryan Blaney, in fourth, was the only other playoff driver to finish in the top five.
Kyle Busch, who was seeking his first victory of the season, was squeezed by playoff driver Chase Briscoe into the wall on Lap 237, causing Busch's No. 8 Chevrolet to spin across the track. Briscoe was seeking to stay on the lead lap, while Busch who was leading the race and battling second place driver Ross Chastain, tried to put Briscoe a lap down. But Briscoe moved up the track, forcing Busch into the wall and bringing out the caution.
Most of the lead-lap cars came down pit road on the ensuing caution, with Martin Truex Jr. winning the race off pit road. But Brad Keselowski stayed on the track and will share the front road with Truex on the restart with 26 laps to go.
Alex Bowman surged into the lead following a late restart to win Stage 2 of the Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway. Bowman earned 10 stage points for taking the checkered flag.
Ty Gibbs finished second, Ryan Blaney third, Stage 1 winner William Bryon fourth and Brad Keselowski fifth. Carson Hocevar, Kyle Busch, Martin Truex Jr., Chase Elliott and Chase Briscoe rounded out the Top 10.
Five of the top 10 at the end of Stage 2 were playoff drivers.
Following the end of stage, most of the field came down pit road for fuel and tires. Ty Gibbs and Carson Hocevar led the field to restart Stage 2, with Hocevar taking the lead.
Playoff driver Austin Cindric spun with seven laps to go in Stage 2 to bring out a caution flag. Cindric made contact with Kyle Busch before hitting the outside wall and spinning across the track. Cindric was able to drive his No. 2 Team Penske Ford to pit road for repairs.
During the caution flag, some drivers elected to come down pit road before the end of the stage, including Penske teammate Joey Logano, who had been running in the Top 5 earlier in the race.
Erik Jones brought out a caution flag on Lap 99 after spinning into the grass. The yellow flag allowed all the cars to come down pit road to top off fuel and put on new tires to contest the remainder of Stage 2.
William Byron, who won the opening stage, had led every lap of Stage 2 before the caution flag waved. But Kyle Busch jumped to the top position after taking just two tires during the stop. Christopher Bell also took just two tires and will restart alongside Busch. Joey Logano and Byron, who took four new tires, will restart on the second row with 60 laps remaining in the stage.
William Byron took the lead on Lap 72 and held on over the final eight laps to win the opening stage of the Hollywood Casino 400. Pole sitter Christopher Bell had led 71 of the 80-lap stage before getting loose and sliding into the outside wall, allowing Byron to make the pass in his No. 24 Chevrolet. Bell was able to right his No. 20 Toyota but not before losing a handful positions as Stage 1 came to a close.
Team Penske drivers Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney finished second and third, respectively, with Joe Gibbs Racing drivers Denny Hamlin, Bell and Ty Gibbs finishing fourth, fifth and sixth. Team Penske's Austin Cindric finished seventh, followed by Martin Truex Jr., Alex Bowman and Carson Hocevar. Every driver in the top 10 received stage points, with Byron collecting a maximum of 10 and Hocevar one.
Following the end of the stage, all drivers came down pit road for fuel and tires, with Logano winning the race off pit road ahead of Byron.
Playoff driver Daniel Suarez had gone a lap down in the closing laps of Stage 1 but received the free pass and will be able to restart on the lead lap for the 85-lap second stage. Kyle Larson, who suffered an incident early in Stage 1 remains one lap down.
Kyle Larson, who the NASCAR Cup Series race at Kansas Speedway in May, suffered an early problem in the Hollywood Casino 400. Larson, who entered the second round of the playoffs as the No. 1 seed, hit the outside wall in Turn 1 on Lap 20 after his right rear tire went flat. He was able to drive his No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet down pit road for his team to access the damage as the caution flag waved.
During the yellow flag, the field came down pit road to refuel and change tires. Christopher Bell, who started on the pole, retained the lead on the restart. Larson was able to remain on the lead lap, but restarted last among lead lap cars.
Mere seconds after the green flag waved for the Hollywood Casino 400, a multi-car crash occurred in the back of the pack at Kanas Speedway. Harrison Burton, who started 28th, and Ty Dillon, who started 32nd, made contact, causing both cars to spin. The accident also collected Jimmy Johnson and Josh Berry. During the incident, Chase Elliott was forced to ride right up along the outside wall, but Elliott's No. 9 Chevrlet was able to avoid damage.
The green flag has waved in the Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway. This is the fourth of 10 playoff races and the first of the second round. Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Christopher Bell and Ty Gibbs lead the field in the opening stage, which is 80 laps.
Chase Elliott, who enters the second round of the playoffs ranked seventh, will start at the rear of the field in Sunday's Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway. Hendrick Motorsports changed the engine of his No. 9 Chevrolet following Saturday's qualifying.
Joe Gibbs Racing drier Christopher Bell posted the fastest time in Saturday’s qualifying and will start on the pole in Sunday’s race. Teammate Ty Gibbs qualified second and will also start on the front row.
The Hollywood Casino 400 is 267 laps around the 1.5-mile oval for a total of 400.5 miles. The race will feature three segments (laps per stage) — Stage 1: 80 laps; Stage 2: 85 laps; Stage 3: 102 laps.
Weather should not be a factor today at Kansas Speedway. The AccuWeather forecast calls for sunny skies and warm temperatures in Kansas City, Kansas, with winds of 7 mph out of the northeast.
Temperatures should peak in the mid-80s with a 0% chance of precipitation.
Kyle Larson led 63 laps on May 5, 2024 before beating Chris Buescher in a photo finish by 0.001 seconds in the closest finish in NASCAR history.
And one year ago, Tyler Reddick led just two laps, taking the lead on an overtime restart before edging Denny Hamlin by 0.327 seconds on Sept. 10, 2023.
Sixteen drivers earned berths in the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs – 14 by virtue of a regular season victory and two winless drivers who made the playoffs on points.
There are 10 total races in the playoffs, including the championship race at Phoenix Raceway on Nov. 10. The playoffs feature three rounds with three races per round before the final race. The four drivers with the fewest points were eliminated after the first round, leaving 12 to advance to the second round. Four drivers will be eliminated after the sixth race, and four more after the ninth race, leaving a final four to race for the title.
If a playoff driver wins a race in one of the three rounds, he will automatically advance to the next round. If non-playoff drivers win those races, however, playoff drivers will advance based on points accumulated during each of the three rounds.
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